mattes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. B. DEVEREUX.V APPARATUS f oR SBPARATING BASE BULLIDN PROM SLAG, MATTBS,

AND SPEISS.

No. 381,119. Patented Apr. 17, 1888.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-, sneet 2.

W. B.. DBVEREUXV. APPARATUS P011 SPPARATING BASE BULLIoN PROM SLAG, MATHS;

- A1111 SPEISS. 1

, No. 381,119. Patented Apr. 17,1888'.A

N. PETERS. Phommbagraphar. washington. DJ;

UNITED bSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER Blv DEVEREUX, OF ASPEN, COLORADO.

APPARATUS AFOR SEPARATING BASE BULLION FROM SLAG, MATTES, AND SPEISS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No., 381,119, dated April 17, 1888.

Application filed February 25, 1880. Serial No. @3,19% (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER B. DEvEEEUx, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Aspen, in the county of Pitkin and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Separating Base Bullion or Lead from Mattes, Speiss, and Slags, and Slags from Mattes and Speiss,'of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to the separation of lead and the alloys of silver, gold, and other metals with lead, commonly known as base bullion, from the mattes, slags, and speiss which 'are formed therewith in the smelting of the ores of such metals, and, also, to the separat-ion of the poor slags from the mattes,speiss, and slags rich in silver, which How out with lthe same when the entire liquid contents of the furnace is tapped, the object of the invention being to effect this threefold separation outside of the furnace, while the smelted mass is still liquid and while the furnace is still running, in one and the same operation and in a more economical manner than has heretofore been possible.

Ithas heretofore been the practice in smelting silver ores and bullion to make use of the ordinary form of shaft-furnace having an interior hearth or crucible into which the bullion, mattes, speiss, and slags fall and settle after reduction,and to use in connection therewith some one of the many forms of devices which are in common use for separating out and removing the base bullion or lead while the same is still liquid, and for tapping off the mattes and slags from the bullion while the same are still running.

Various methods are resorted to for the purpose of separating the valuable slags, mattes, and speiss from the poor slags which run out with the same, and all of the methods and devices by means of which the same Vhas hitherto been accomplished are more or less difficult of manipulation and imperfect in operation.

The most usual device employed for separating lead or bullion from the mass of slags and mattes smelted therewith is the exterior lead-basin, which is connected with the lowest part of the furnace-hearth and in which the molten base bullion and lead, being ,heavier than the other moltenfsubstauces,settle gradually and rise in the exterior basin in propory tion as the height of the column of liquid ma- 5 5 terial in the furnace-Crucible increases, and

`fromwhich the lead or base bullion is removed by means of a ladle as it accumulates. The socalled siphon,7 or automatic tap, which is largely in use for this purpose throughout the 6o westernportions of the United States, is merely a modification of the old-fashioned exterior basin, and is too widely known and used to need description in this connection.

All of the various methods and devices hitherto made use of for tapping off bullion, slags, and mattes from furnaces are open in practice to Very many and some very serious objections, and the separation which is effected by them is neither automatic nor perfect. rlhe 7o principal objection to them is that in cases where t-he ores to be smelted contain copper, zinc, baryta, or other impurities accretions are liable to be produced in the crucible, the

formation of which is extremely difficult to prevent and the growth of whichalmost invariably causes an eventual stoppage of the furnace before it would otherwise be necessary, owing to thelstoppage and chilling of the leadwell and the difficulty experienced in keeping 8o the passage open through the walls ofA the Crucible. The accretions,which are hard tough masses, have to be removed by chiseling,neces sitating the furnace being put out of blast and cooled off. Y 8 5 Now',l have discovered that by constructing a smelting-furnace in such a form as to entirely do away with the ordinary form of crucible, and by placing the bottom of the furnace close up to the fusion-zone, and by tapping the en- 9o tire fiuid contents of the furnace directly into an exterior and portable receptacle provided with interior means for automatically separating the various ingredients whichflow into it, Iam able, first, to separate almost completely from each other, first, the mattes and speiss; second, lthe lead or base bullion, and, third, the slags; second, to render the formation of accretions much less likely to occur, there being no cruciblein the furnace and no possibil 10o ity of chilling; third, to attain great economy of furnace construction; and, fourth, to secure much more regular working and consequently campaigns of much greater length.

My invention, which consists in an apparatus in which the aforesaid separation is conducted, will be best understood by reference to the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section; Fig. 2, a vertical section of a slightly-modified form, and Fig. 3 a plan view of the form shown in Fig. 1.

Si milarletters refer to similar parts th roughout the several views.

In all of the views where shown, E represents an ordinary shaft-furnace in which the crucible is dispensed with and the bottom G made to slope slightly from all parts of the furnace toward the tap-hole.

F represents the ordinary form of furnace, tap-hole, or spout, through which the entire smelted portion of the charge is drawn ofi".

The vessel,which in my invention is substituted for the furnace crucible, consists, as is shown iu all the views, of a receiver or well, A, which is made ofy metal, preferably of castiron,of any convenient size or shape. In practice it will be found most convenient to make the receiving-well of the oblong form shown in the views, with side walls iiaring slightly outward from the bottom toward the top in order to facilitate dumping. The separation is effected in this vessel by means'of a combination of the devices,(for which I have already made application for Letters Patent by separate petition,) by means of which the static pressure of columns of liquid of varying specific gravities eifects automatic separation.

Figs. l and 3 show the receiver or well A combined with a movable diaphragm,D,and a movable lead-well, W, of the character shown in the views and more Vparticularly described in the above mentioned applications. By means lof the diaphragm D the receiver or well A is divided into two compartments of any desirable size, which are connected at or near the bottom by means of an opening, O, of convenient dimensions placed in the bottom of the diaphragm. The diaphragm may be held in place by any convenient form of fastening which will enable it to be removed at pleasure. The movable lead-well W is used in connection with one of the compartments, which are respectively designated as a and a, into which the receiver A is divided by the diaphragm D. This lead-well is shown in the drawings as a truncated hollow cone, the lower extremity of which is slightly contracted. An opening, O, inf the bottom connects it with the compartment a', and it is supported and held in position in the receiver A in any manner that will permit of its being easily removed.

'Ihe receiver is covered with a flanged cover, C, of iron or other metal,which fits tightly over the same, as shown, being held in position by the flange c. In the arrangement shown in the views the lead-well is supported in the same Vlead-well; but any other form of fastening may Vbe used that willpermit of said leadwe1l be` ing easily removed, the gist of the device being, as stated in said aforesaid specification, in the movability of the lead-well. The crosssection of the well may be-of`any convenient shape; but in practice it will be found most convenient to make the same circular, giving to the well the shape of a hollow frustum of a cone. v

It will be apparent from Figs. l and 3 that bymeans of the lead-well the compartment into which the same is placed is again subdivided into two compartments-an interior compartment within the well a. and an exterior compartment around the well a. yThe upper edge of the receiver A is provided with two discharge-spouts, f f which are arranged to discharge the contents of the compartments a and a, respectively, in themanner hereinp after described.

` Fig. 2 shows a modified form of apparatus, where a second movable diaphragm, D', is substituted for the lead-well W. This diaphragm is substantially of the same character as that shown in Figs. l and 3, the only difference being that inthe arrangement shown in Fig. 3

the point of connection between the two cham- IOO its bottom, whereby the lead may be drawn o when t-he receiver becomes choked up with shells. During the running of the receiver this hole may be stopped up with fire-clay or an iron plug, or in any other convenient manner.

The method of separation effected by theV above apparatus and the mode of operation of the same is substantially as follows:

In smelti ng-ores, as is well-known, the various products and by-products when molten differ in specic gravity. The lead and bullion in this condition areheavier than the mattes and speiss,

ment, while the mattes and speiss will assume a position directly above, leaving the slag IIS which is lighter to float on the top. Where the entire contents of the furnace are allowed to flow through the tap-hole into any form of ves' sel which is subdivided by a diaphragm int'o two compartments, connected at the bottom by means of an opening, of sufficient vertical dimensions to admit of the passage of the bul'- lion and the superincumbent layers of 'mattes and speisses, the poor slags, which float upon the top of the mass in the compartment into which the fluid mass lows,will flow off through any opening which may be provided for that purpose at the upper edge of the vessel,while in the other compartment, into which the lead or bullion and mattes and speiss liow over,these last-mentioned ingredients will rise in the compartment in proportion with the static pressure ofthe column of liquid in the rst compartment. If now the compartmentinto which the mattes, spiess, base bullion, or lead flow over be further subdivided in a similar manner by means of a wall, under which only the lead or base bullion can flow, a further separation will be effected between the mattes and speiss on the one hand and the lead or bullion ou the other. If then the second compartment a be provided with an overtlowspout, f, at a point to which the mattes and speiss will rise therein, the same will dow olt and be separated from the lead and bullion, which in turnv will dow under the diaphragm D and rise in the compartment a, in proportion as the static pressure of the columns of liquid in bot-h the compartments a and c increases. In cases where the second diaphragm is used the lead may be allowed to flow continuously through a spout attached to the chamber a,- but in practice it will generally be founddesirable to ladle out the lead or bullion in order to prevent the accumulation of semi-liquid alloys, which have separated from the liquid metal by reason of a lowering of the temperature.

In practice one or both of the diaphragms may be made stationary; but in nearly all cases the removability of the same is essential.

In the drawings two methods of subdividingv the compartment a are shown, as shown in Figs. l and 2, one by means of an independent and removable lead-well, IV, having an opening in its base, another by means ofthe movable diaphragm D. These methods are substantially equivalents, one of the other; but in practice the use of the lead-well W will be found preferable for the reason that the leadwell, owing to its being constantly surrounded by a column of hot mattes and speiss, will be kept uniformly hot, and all danger of its coutents becoming chilled will be avoided. In the operation of the apparatus it will be obvious that there will be a constant fiow of liquid slag from the spoutf ofthe chamber a-a tlow of mattes and speiss-which are rich in silver and are saved for retreatment from the spout f ofthe compartment a', and a column of practically pure lead or bullion in the compartmenta",formed by the lead-well W or the diaphragm D', which may be removed with a la-y dle as the compartment becomes full,or in any other convenient manner.

I have heretofore upon the 24th day of February, 1886, tiled three separate applications for Letters Patent for methodsv and apparatus for separating lead and base bullion from slags and mattes by means of some of the agencies herein described, in which applications the said diaphragms being so arranged and constructed that they may be shifted therein or removed therefrom at pleasure, and openings inthe base of said diaphragms of such dimensions that the said compartments are connected with each other, substantially in the manner set forth.

2. The combination,substantially as hereinkbefore set forth, with a smelting-furnace, of a portable receiver or collecting-well into which the same discharges,a diaphragm placed in the interior of said receiver, dividingthe sameinto two separate compartments,provided with an opening at or near the base for connecting the compartments, and a lead-well placed in either of said compartments,provided with an opening in its base below the level ofthe opening in the diaphragm, for the purposes set forth. 3. The combination, substantial-ly as hereinbefore set forth, with a smelting-furnace, of a portable receiver or collecting-well into which the same discharges, a diaphragm placed in the interior of said receiver,dividing the same into two separate compartments, provided with an opening at or near the base for connecting the compartments, and a lead-well placed in either of said compartments, provided with an opening at its base below thelevel of the opening in the diaphragm, said lead-Well and diaphragm being so arranged and constructed that they can be raised, lowered, or shifted in said receiver, or removed therefromkat pleasure.

4. The combination,with a portable receiver .or collecting-well subdivided interiorly into compartments, substantially as described, of one or more discharge-spouts placed at or near its upper rim at such points'that the material accumulating in each compartment will automatically and'continu'ously dow off from that compartment through a separate spout when the same becomes full.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth,with a smeltinglfurnacepf a portable receiver or collecting f vessel into which said furnace discharges, a movable diaph ragm in said receiver, whereby the same is subdivided into two compartments, an opening at or near the bottom of said diaphragm, whereby the said compartments are connected, a movable lead-well placed in one of said compartments,having an opening in its bottom be low the level of the opening in said diaphragm, and means for supporting and adjusting said diaphragm and lead-Wellin said receiver,sub stantially as f described.

6. The combination, substantially as here-r IOO 'IIO

inbefore set forth, with a smelting-furnace, of tially as described, for covering said receiver xo aportalole receiver or collecting-wellintowhich and lead-well, respectively.

said furnace discharges, a diaphragm in said Signed at New York, in the county of New receiver,whereby the same is subdivided into York and State of New York, this 18th day of 5'tWo compartments, having an opening at or February, A. D. 1886.

near its base connecting said compartments, n WALTER B. DEVEREUX.

a lead-well having au opening in its extreme Witnesses:

base below the level of the opening in said EDWIN T. RICE, Jr., diaphragm, and independent covers, sulostan- WILLARD P. BUTLER.

Correction ii i Letters Patent Nol 381,119.

i Il i i It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 381,119, granted April 17, 1888, upon the application of Walter B. Devereux, of Aspen, Colorado, for an improvement in Apparatus for Separating Base Bullion from Slag, Mattes, and Speiss, an error appears requiring correction as follows: The sheet of drawings marked Sheet 2 was y inadvertently inserted as a part of said Letters Patent, Whereas said Sheet 2 had heer canceled and Was not intended to illustrate any part of the invention covered by sait patent and should have been omitted therefrom; and that the said Letters Patent shoul( he read with this correction therein that the same may coliform to the record of th case in the Patent Office.

Signed, eountersigned, and sealed this 29th dayy of May, A..D. 1388.

[SEAL] l H. L. MULDROW,

First Assistant Secretary of the Imerio Oonntersigned:

BENTON J. HALL,

Commissioner of Patents. 

